Archives
Welcome to the archives of Better Cities & Towns, a publication founded by Robert Steuteville as New Urban News in 1996. This archive holds two decades of the best news and analysis on compact, mixed-use growth and development, from 1996 to 2015.
A Brookings study makes the case that zoning restrictions are to blame for housing price inequality and lower test scores of low-income students.
Crime declined throughout Chicago and Atlanta as those two cities demolished public housing projects and helped families relocate with vouchers. An Urban Institute-Emory University study found that tearing down much of Chicago’s public housing and...
The US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) and the Frontier Group have released a report showing that by 2011, the average American was driving 6 percent fewer miles per year than in 2004.Especially interesting are these findings:
Population growth at the far edge of American metropolitan areas has plummeted in the past few years.
How Detroit might fashion a decent future is a recurring topic in urban circles. A new book, Detroit: A Biography (Chicago Review Press, 288 pages, $24.95) by Scott Martelle, gives readers much of the background they need to understand how Detroit...
The Urban Land Institute predicts that both housing prices and housing starts will increase significantly starting in 2013.
A new approach to the built environment requires comprehensive education on the part of regulators and land-use professionals, so that plans don’t just sit on the shelf. Like many aspects of Plan El Paso, the city has gone the extra mile in this...
CNU member Ryan Snyder of Ryan Snyder Associates, the organizer behind last year’s charrette for Los Angeles County’s Model Design Manual for Living Streets, reports on progress.
An artist cooperative in Minneapolis continues to breath new life into the city without displacing local residents.
Making Houston more walkable is a tall task for anybody, but former council member Peter Brown brings a unique style to the job.
Regional planners envision a finance system in which the state helps municipalities, and vice versa.
On Tax Day, here's an analysis on property taxes, the kind of taxes that cities and towns rely on most. Density and mixed-use — not parking lots — yield the most revenue by far.